Ten Things To Watch For In The Daytona 500

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It’s no secret that The Daytona 500 is a very important race for NASCAR drivers and teams. Not only can a win in The annual great American Race put you among some of the greatest drivers ever to put on a helmet, but it now also virtually guarantees you a spot in NASCAR’s 10 race playoff format at the end of the year.

While a victory in The Daytona 500 isn’t a promise of success in The Chase for The Sprint Cup, it does allow the winning driver to focus on perfecting their car setups for The Chase, instead of trying to focus on just making it into The Chase for The Championship.  This, and the fact that the last two drivers who won The Daytona 500 made it deep into the playoffs that year, is enough to raise the stakes for both the fans and drivers come race time.

Dale Earnhardt Jr won the Daytona 500 in 2014 and went on to make it into the second round of the Chase. Sure, Jr’s performance dramatically after the first round, but it was still quite an accomplishment for the aging veteran. Unfortunately for Earnhardt Jr, Joey Logano went further after winning The 500 in 2015, making it all the way to the semifinals of The Chase. Logano may have won the championship that year too if it wasn’t for a little payback from an angry Matt Kenseth.

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